1. The search engine I used to use all the time was Ask.com. After that I started using Google. I have occasionally use Yahoo, but not often. That’s only three sites but that is all I have used. 2. I went to http://www.teoma.com and typed in the following topics: -renewable resources: without quotes - 2,686 sites with quotes - 896 sites (a more refined search) - macular dystrophy: without quotes – 110,000 sites/ with quotes – 110,000 sites (no difference) - mainecoon cats: without quotes – 177,000 sites/ with quotes - 177,000 sites (no difference) - air pollution: without quotes – 6,210,000 sites/ with quotes - 6,210,000 sites (no difference) - natural resources: without quotes - 43,000,000 sites/ with quotes - 43,000,000 sites (no difference) - bulging disc: without quotes - 153,000 sites/ with quotes - 26,000 sites (a more refined search)
Conclusion: I’m sure quotes often help, but not always. It just depends on what you’re looking for. However, to save time, I think I’ll put the topics I’m searching for in quotes from now on. 3. The Boolean operators are helpful. I haven’t used those before either. I like the boolify.org website. It yields a limited number of sites which are helpful and manageable. 4. I haven’t had too much luck with www.easywhois.com. When I type in a website the response is always, “This site is available for registration.” I never learn who posted the site to begin with. 5. Domains: .aero – reserved for aviation only .asia – reserved for Pan-Asia and the Asian community .biz - reserved for business sites .com – reserved for commercial sites .coop – reserved for co-ops and cooperative organizations .edu – educational sites .gov - government sites .info – information services .jobs – reserved for employment and human resource management .k12 – reserved for schools and school districts .mil - military websites and email addresses .mobi – used by mobile units (cell phones, etc.)to access the internet .museum - for museum websites and email addresses .name – reserved for personal use .net – host site .org – nonprofit .pro – professional .sch – used as a sub-domain name to represent schools in some foreign countries such as England and Iran .tel – a single point of contact on the web (cell phone, blogs, emails, etc.) .travel – travel and tourism industry
6. I searched for a list of boarding schools in Kampala, Uganda and had some success. I then wanted to find out how much it casts to send a child to the Humble school in Mukono, Uganda. I had no luck at all. 7. I wanted to compare the number of museums in Rwanda with the number of museums in Uganda. I went to Google and typed in “museums AND Rwanda.” I found seven museums and six genocide memorials. I then typed in “museums and Uganda” which yielded only one result and it didn’t give me the name of a single museum in Uganda. Now I wonder does Uganda really not have any museums? I find it hard to believe they don’t even have one. Why were my results so different? 8. A. I went to Google Book Search under reference tools and typed in the title of a book I had wanted to find for my daughter who is pregnant with her first child. I had the book when I was pregnant with her. I keyed in the title and the search engine found it on Amazon.com so I took time out of my studies to order it and have it sent to her. She will get it in three days. YEA. This assignment paid off in a very concrete way. :) B. I went to People Profiles. I shared this with my husband. We found my husband’s long lost friend from college who is currently an attorney in Arizona. We also found my husband’s ex-girlfriend who currently lives in Detroit. C. I went to maps and typed in my zip code. I found not only my street but I found a photo of the front of my house and I could view full circle in every direction! Very cool. I checked out my daughter’s house, my parents’ house, and my in-laws’ house. I shared this with my husband, too, and he got as excited as I did. He showed my where he lived, in ElizabethCity, North Carolina. And also three of his old houses in Weatherford, TX. D. I went to the currency conversion window and found that100 U.S. dollars = 199 600.798 Ugandan shillings. Very interesting.
E. I went to the fill in the blank window and typed in Ben Franklin invented*
and found a lot of interesting information about Ben Franklin. I didn’t vet
the source but I will before I share it with children.
F.I went to the area code window, typed in 214, and found that 214 is aTexasarea code. I used to know that but had forgotten it.
G. I went to the health conditions window and, since my daughter and son-in-law are planning a trip to Guatemala, I typed in malaria in Guatemala and found they need to get a typhoid shot and some malaria medication before they go. Good to know. J
Search Strategies
1. The search engine I used to use all the time was Ask.com. After that I started using Google. I have occasionally use Yahoo, but not often. That’s only three sites but that is all I have used.
2. I went to http://www.teoma.com and typed in the following topics:
-renewable resources: without quotes - 2,686 sites with quotes - 896 sites
(a more refined search)
- macular dystrophy: without quotes – 110,000 sites/ with quotes – 110,000 sites
(no difference)
- maine coon cats: without quotes – 177,000 sites/ with quotes - 177,000 sites
(no difference)
- air pollution: without quotes – 6,210,000 sites/ with quotes - 6,210,000 sites
(no difference)
- natural resources: without quotes - 43,000,000 sites/ with quotes - 43,000,000 sites
(no difference)
- bulging disc: without quotes - 153,000 sites/ with quotes - 26,000 sites
(a more refined search)
Conclusion: I’m sure quotes often help, but not always. It just depends on what you’re looking for. However, to save time, I think I’ll put the topics I’m searching for in quotes from now on.
3. The Boolean operators are helpful. I haven’t used those before either. I like the boolify.org website. It yields a limited number of sites which are helpful and manageable.
4. I haven’t had too much luck with www.easywhois.com. When I type in a website the response is always, “This site is available for registration.” I never learn who posted the site to begin with.
5. Domains:
.aero – reserved for aviation only
.asia – reserved for Pan-Asia and the Asian community
.biz - reserved for business sites
.com – reserved for commercial sites
.coop – reserved for co-ops and cooperative organizations
.edu – educational sites
.gov - government sites
.info – information services
.jobs – reserved for employment and human resource management
.k12 – reserved for schools and school districts
.mil - military websites and email addresses
.mobi – used by mobile units (cell phones, etc.)to access the internet
.museum - for museum websites and email addresses
.name – reserved for personal use
.net – host site
.org – nonprofit
.pro – professional
.sch – used as a sub-domain name to represent schools in some
foreign countries such as England and Iran
.tel – a single point of contact on the web (cell phone, blogs, emails, etc.)
.travel – travel and tourism industry
6. I searched for a list of boarding schools in Kampala, Uganda and had some success. I then wanted to find out how much it casts to send a child to the Humble school in Mukono, Uganda. I had no luck at all.
7. I wanted to compare the number of museums in Rwanda with the number of museums in Uganda. I went to Google and typed in “museums AND Rwanda.” I found seven museums and six genocide memorials. I then typed in “museums and Uganda” which yielded only one result and it didn’t give me the name of a single museum in Uganda. Now I wonder does Uganda really not have any museums? I find it hard to believe they don’t even have one. Why were my results so different?
8. A. I went to Google Book Search under reference tools and typed in the title of a book I had wanted to find for my daughter who is pregnant with her first child. I had the book when I was pregnant with her. I keyed in the title and the search engine found it on Amazon.com so I took time out of my studies to order it and have it sent to her. She will get it in three days. YEA. This assignment paid off in a very concrete way. :)
B. I went to People Profiles. I shared this with my husband. We found my husband’s long lost friend from college who is currently an attorney in Arizona. We also found my husband’s ex-girlfriend who currently lives in Detroit.
C. I went to maps and typed in my zip code. I found not only my street but I found a photo of the front of my house and I could view full circle in every direction! Very cool. I checked out my daughter’s house, my parents’ house, and my in-laws’ house. I shared this with my husband, too, and he got as excited as I did. He showed my where he lived, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. And also three of his old houses in Weatherford, TX.
D. I went to the currency conversion window and found that 100 U.S. dollars = 199 600.798 Ugandan shillings. Very interesting.
E. I went to the fill in the blank window and typed in Ben Franklin invented*
and found a lot of interesting information about Ben Franklin. I didn’t vet
the source but I will before I share it with children.
F. I went to the area code window, typed in 214, and found that 214 is a Texas area code. I used to know that but had forgotten it.G. I went to the health conditions window and, since my daughter and son-in-law are planning a trip to Guatemala, I typed in malaria in Guatemala and found they need to get a typhoid shot and some malaria medication before they go. Good to know. J
*I really got a lot out of this activity! J
(To be continued...)